Highlights from the Independent Spirits Expo in San Francisco [VIDEO]

Back in November, Josh and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Indie Spirits Expo in San Francisco by our friend Rick (of Cocktail Go-Go fame). Every year, the expo goes to a handful of cities across the country and brings together brand owners, importers, and artesian small batch distillers, often rare, for the public to go in, taste, and learn more. As you might imagine, it took a lot of arm twisting and hemming and hawing to convince us to go (not), and so we headed down to the Castro at the Swedish American Hall to check it out.

Josh and I are getting a lot more into video these days (stay tuned for exciting projects to come!), and so we made a short video to show you what the expo was like. Check it out:

It was probably one of the best expos we've been to. Why?

• The distillers were fun, knowledgeable, eager to share their spirits, and generally unpretentious. 
• The quality of ingredients was incredible. Josh and I found plenty of spirits that are rare and difficult to find at your typical bar—and they were some of the best spirits we've ever tried. Vivid, unique flavors both for sipping and mixing. 
• You could taste everything. I hate it when I pay to go to these events, and it turns out that you just to get look at a bunch of delicious products and pay more money to actually try it. At this event, you actually got to try everything you saw.
• There was delicious food! And copious amounts of it! So often have we gone to these events, starting off ambitious and leaving feeling green because there was no food. Not so at the Indie Spirits Expo. Theresa Dobbs, the caterer for the event, whipped up an amazing assortment of Asian fusion dishes, cured meats, cheeses, and breads. 

Definitely an event worth going to.